Small Monuments to Food

(Public art commission)2015

This temporary public art commission on the theme of food was installed on the Richmond Canada Line Transit Station art kiosk. Temporary agricultural workers contribute enormously to the agro-industry and economy across Canada but their presence is largely invisible to Canadians. We tend to take our food and wine for granted, not considering who is doing the heavy lifting. Despite Richmond’s rapid development over recent decades, the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) hectares aren’t much lower currently than in 1974. Richmond’s agricultural production is heavily reliant on ‘affordable’, low wage labour supplied by temporary seasonal farm workers from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Asian and Indian populations of Richmond who perform work most Canadians won’t do.